CannesGround: Stade Pierre de Coubertin Visits: 1 Date: 23rd February 2013 Match: Cannes - Rodez (Match was postponed but I took some pictures anyway!)
As I wrote in the Nice vs Stade de Reims report there is always one Ligue 2 match being played on Saturday afternoons (and one on Monday evenings). This year it is mostly Monaco and Nantes that are shown live on TV. Staying in Nice I was of course hoping for the Monaco vs Lens to be the one on the Saturday. Unfortunately that was not to be the case. Instead I looked elsewhere and decided to go to a CFA (level 4) match in Cannes. Cannes is only 40 minutes by local train from Nice so it was not a complicated trip. There was plenty of rain showers in Nice this Saturday morning and I only did a short sightseeing trip of the city centre. I left for Cannes around 2pm and upon arriving I could notice much more persistent rain in Cannes than in Nice. AS Cannes play their matches at Stade Pierre de Coubertin, a ground with two big stands and and an overall capacity of 7 000. Stade Pierre de Coubertin is situated in Cannes-La Bocca which was 15-20 minutes by local bus from Cannes train station. Once at the ground I could yet again sneak in but unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures of the West Stand. As I understand it AS Cannes use only this stand for their matches which might explain why I couldn´t access the East Stand.
After some short sightseeing in Cannes city centre (some impressive boats in the harbour!) I had something to eat before once again making the bus trip to Stade Pierre de Coubertin. Kick-off was at 20.00 and by 19.10 two elderly men arrived in the small ticket office. 10 and 6 Euros were the prices for adults. Some fans tried to buy a ticket but failed. After a while I asked someone why the gates were not open. "Maybe Annule" was the answer. Apparently all the rain demanded a pitch inspection and at 19.30 the match was called off. Very annoying for me but this was the least important match on the trip and a match I can probably be without, still annoying and disappointing though. I was back in Nice by 9pm and could look back on a memorable trip. OGC Nice will have a new stadium ready in June this year and I guess I can re-visit Stade Pierre de Coubertin when I go to Allianz Riviera, as Nice´s new stadium will be called, sometime in the near future.
Cannes harbour
Palais des Festivals de Cannes
Rear of the East Stand
Ticket office
North End
East Stand
South End
Pano |